In Ex parte Baurin (Appeal 2024‑002920), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) denied the examiner’s request for rehearing and reaffirmed its prior reversal of six nonstatutory obviousness‑type double patenting (ODP)...more
On December 4, 2025, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director John Squires issued two memoranda addressing subject matter eligibility and spotlighting an additional pathway to overcome a rejection under 35 U.S.C. §...more
A U.S. design patent protects how something looks, as opposed to how it works. An applicant conveys that look primarily using drawings. Typically they use line drawings, so that the scope of protection is focused on the shape...more
Another day, another change at the USPTO. If you have ever filed a patent application, you know there is a section that asks for your entity status: Large, Small, or Micro. If you have ever asked yourself whether size...more
The explosive growth of artificial intelligence has created unprecedented challenges for patent protection. While AI may be "the most transcendent and transformative technology of our time," as USPTO Director John Squires...more
The new Director of the Patent and Trademark Office, Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property John A. Squires has spent the last few weeks making serious policy changes in the Office (see “New Director Overturns...more
Welcome to TC’s IP Corner® Halloween edition. We are excited to share this quarterly newsletter with our clients, colleagues, and friends as we examine hot topics, interesting cases, and weird yet entertaining happenings in...more
On August 4, the USPTO issued a Memorandum to examiners in Technology Centers 2100, 2600, and 3600, providing reminders and clarifications on evaluating subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. This guidance is...more
On May 13, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will expedite Issue Dates for patents. This will reduce the average time from three weeks to about two, so patent holders can bring their investments to market...more
Following the Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has published a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers regarding the guidance...more
Patent Examiners rely upon the Manual of Patent Examination Procedure (MPEP) to instruct application of the law to the most common patent prosecution situations. The MPEP’s forward refers to itself as a “guidance document”...more
The Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (“MPEP”) is the examination manual used internally at the United States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) to guide examiners in the process of examining patent applications. In...more
On July 16, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) announced new guidance for examination of patent applications directed to critical and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI)....more
Under the patent laws, the term of a patent may be increased for delays by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during the application process. See 35 U.S.C. § 154(b)(1). Conversely, the USPTO can reduce a patent term...more
On September 22, 2022, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) directed patent practitioners to current case law and sections of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) as reminders as the patent practitioners...more
It can be difficult to advance prosecution of a U.S. patent application efficiently and effectively after prosecution has been closed and an Advisory Action has been mailed. Various U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)...more
With the “improper Markush grouping” rejection, U.S. patent examiners may reject claims reciting various alternative polynucleotide or polypeptide sequences. However, there is no per se rule that groupings of alternative...more
Increased employee mobility, health challenges, and the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic may result in more inventors than usual being unavailable to sign declarations for patent applications as required by the...more
The Federal Circuit decision in HZNP Medicines LLC v. Horizon Pharma USA, Inc. is a good reminder that even standard “patent lingo” can cause trouble down the line. Now that the court has denied rehearing en banc (with Judges...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance (PEG) in January 2019, then released an update (PEG Update) in October 2019 to clarify certain issues in the PEG. The PEG and...more
Earlier this year, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or “the Office”) published the 2019 Revised Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance (2019 PEG), which set forth newly revised procedures to be used by USPTO...more